Clinical Negligence Solicitors

A woman whose husband died from a heart attack after being told by doctors he was suffering from a musculoskeletal condition and indigestion has been awarded £100,000 in compensation.

Ian Jardine of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire fell ill at work with chest pains and breathlessness on 12 June 2009 and was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, Norfolk by ambulance.

However, doctors in A&E told Mr Jardine that he was suffering from muscle pain and sent him home, advising him to take painkillers and indigestion remedies.

The chest pains continued for a week and on 13 June another ambulance attended his home, but the paramedics did not admit him to hospital.

Mr Jardine continued to visit his GP, but was sent away again with co-codamol painkillers and indigestion remedies. On 19 June he again went to his GP who gave him more medication for indigestion before sending him away again. Mr Jardine became ill on his way home and another ambulance was called.

However, paramedics did not admit him to hospital and he died from a coronary thrombosis that night.

A spokesman for the East Midlands Ambulance Service said:

“We accept that Mr Jardine’s medical condition was not diagnosed properly and therefore accepted liability for our part in that. We would like to offer our sincere apologies to his family and friends for their very sad loss.”

Mr Jardine’s wife Sharon, 49, has fought a four-year legal battle for compensation and has been awarded £100,000 in an out-of-court settlement with Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust.

A spokesman for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital said:

“We wish to apologise to Mrs Jardine and her family and to express our deep regret for the shortcomings in her husband’s care.”

Heart attacks – symptoms and what to do

Heart attack (myocardial infarction) is often caused by a blood clot or a blocked artery. In the case of blood clots, clot-busting drugs are administered in hospital. In the case of “furred up” arteries (eg in smokers or those with a high-fat diet), doctors insert a stent into the artery to keep it open and deliver medication.

Heart attack symptoms

The symptoms of heart attacks may differ between men and women, but generally the symptoms include:

• Nausea and/or vomiting
• Pain or tingling in the left arm
• Pain in the neck or jaw especially left-hand side
• Chest pains (especially in the left of the chest or shooting across the chest)
• Back pain
• Feeling light-headed or giddy
• Sweating without obvious cause
• Breathlessness or unable to breath
• Pallor or ashen looking (grey faced).

Heart attack symptoms – what to do

Heart disease and blood clots prevent the free flow of blood into and out of the heart and round the body. Any interruption to blood flow as a result of a blood clot or blocked artery can be fatal.

Getting medical help is essential – and if symptoms continue for more than five minutes or worsen, it is advisable to get to a hospital as soon as possible.

Indigestion symptoms can sometimes appear very similar to heart attack – especially if you have eaten spicy food which can cause “heartburn”.

However, if indigestion remedies do not ease symptoms soon after taking them – and symptoms of chest pain, breathlessness etc continue – it is always advisable to seek medical help as soon as possible. Ambulance crews are trained to cope with heart attacks symptoms and carry equipment and defibrillators to help stabilise patients with heart attack.

The NHS target for ambulance callouts to heart attack patients is eight minutes – 75% of ambulance callouts are expected to reach a heart attack patient within that time. The most urgent callouts are Red 1 calls, which are for heart attack patients who are without a pulse and are not breathing.

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise on a wide range of personal injury claims, including medical negligence, package holiday accidents, road traffic accident injuries and injuries sustained in accidents at work or in public places (eg slips, trips and falls on the public highway or in shops.

Contact Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors for expert legal advice on making a no win no fee personal injury compensation claim on 020 7923 4020.